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Biomedical subjects

D Butler

Publications and source records attributed to D Butler.

At least 379 records · Page 21Linked to original sources

An evaluation of a ward pharmacy service.

An evaluation of a ward pharmacy service showed: 1. Its introduction led to a 40-50% reduction in errors and ambiguities of prescribing. 2. It assisted in the safe and more effective use of medicines in hospitals. 3. Medical staff particularly valued the safety checking applied to their prescriptions and the patient's total medication profile, and the opportunity of seeking information about drugs. Nursing staff most appreciated the checking and clarifying elements which assisted during the administration of drugs, the promotion of the most effective use of medicines and the opportunity of discussing problems of drug therapy.

Drug Prescriptions↗

Ischaemic optic neuropathy--a combined mechanism.

A clinical pathological study is reported of a patient who developed bilateral ischaemic optic neuropathy following a massive gastrointestinal haemorrhage with associated vascular complications in watershed areas of the myocardium and brain. Additional factors of giant cell arteritis and diabetic ketoacidosis contributed to the unique pathology. The distribution of infarction to the optic nerve has been related to known studies on the blood supply of the optic nerve.

Aged↗

Recovery following intravenous sedation during dental surgery performed under local anesthesia.

Recovery of psychomotor and perceptual performance from two combinations of intravenous sedatives was assessed in 124 oral surgical patients undergoing third molar extractions under local infiltration anesthesia. Ninety-four patients in the experimental group received 15 mg of diazepam and 20 to 200 mg of methohexital intravenously on one occasion and 12.5 mg of diazepam, 20 to 200 mg of methohexital, and 0.1 mg of fentanyl intravenously on another occasion in a randomized, crossover design. Thirty patients in the control group received saline placebo intravenously during a single surgery. Both drug combinations produced significantly prolonged decrements in performance in comparison to placebo. Reduction in the diazepam dose from 15 to 12.5 mg and the addition of fentanyl, a short-acting narcotic, produced greater sedation without prolonging recovery. Psychomotor function recovered to preoperative levels before perceptual performance. These results show that postsurgical deficits in psychomotor and perceptual function result from the sedative drugs and not from the effects of local anesthetics or physiologic and psychological responses to surgery. These results also suggest that psychomotor tests are inappropriate measures of recovery and that superior sedation with rapid recovery may be achieved with reduced doses of longer acting agents such as diazepam and with the addition of shorter acting agents that do not prolong recovery.

Adolescent↗

Alcohol withdrawal and carbamazepine.

The use of pharmacologic intervention in the management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome is briefly presented. The use of carbamazepine, a tricyclic anticonvulsant with clinical efficacy in depressive illness, in alcohol withdrawal treatment is reviewed. A comparative analysis between carbamazepine and major drugs used in alcohol withdrawal syndrome is made. This includes the evaluation of both clinical advantages and disadvantages in addition to identification of drug adverse reaction and interaction with alcohol. The mechanism of action of carbamazepine is also examined. Carbamazepine appears to possess a useful pharmacotherapeutic potential in the management of acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and its use in long-term treatment is suggested.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

Carbamazepine and ethanol elicited responses in rodents.

The interaction between carbamazepine, and anticonvulsant with clinical efficacy in alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and ethanol was studied in rodents. Voluntary intake of ethanol by the rat was the behavioral performance test used to assess one aspect of such interaction. Carbamazepine, 50 mg/kg, IP, caused aversion to ethanol drinking. The drug was devoid of action on rat hepatic ethanol and acetaldehyde metabolizing enzymes, i.e., alcohol- and aldehyde dehydrogenase, and on testicular aldehyde dehydrogenase. The moderate induction of the latter by prolonged ethanol consumption was antagonized by a single dose of carbamazepine (50 mg/kg). Administration of carbamazepine, 50 mg/kg twice daily for three consecutive days, moderately inhibited mouse liver alcohol dehydrogenase in the male but not in the female mouse. This treatment did not alter endogenous mouse cardiac lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes or hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase in either sex. The enzymatic portion of the study suggests species and sex differences in the effects of carbamazepine studied. The reduction of voluntary drinking of ethanol by carbamazepine may have clinical implications, e.g., the extension of its use in alcohol withdrawal phase to alcohol abstinence.

Acetaldehyde↗